Running Your Race

         Runners take your mark…

                                                Get Set….

                                                                  Bang!

                                       And the race is on….

 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?

Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

I Corinthians 9:24-27

The Apostle Paul uses the example of a race to illustrate our salvation.

This is not a race, however, that we run in competition with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Instead it is a race, which when faithfully run, will, among other things, bring my flesh into submission. Our bodies, as Paul speaks above, become the servants – or slaves – and not the master. As we run the race we learn to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ rather than to the impulses and cravings of the old nature.

As you can imagine this is not a sprint but a life long race.

The prize is not a celebrity endorsement contract, or our picture on a Wheaties cereal box but it is an eternal, incorruptible crown! We will look more closely at different aspects of this race throughout the week but let me encourage you with this; if you’ve fallen; if you’ve stumbled; if you’ve disqualified yourself, get back in the race and God Himself will be your strength and conditioning coach, bringing you to the finish line!